Homeless Bird: Part 3

By GLORIA WHELAN

When they learned Maa and Baap were looking for a husband for me, my two brothers began to tease me. My older brother, Gopal, said "Koly, when you have a husband, you will have to do as he tells you. You won't sit and daydream as you do now."

My younger brother, Ram, whom I always beat at card games, said, "When you play cards with your husband, you'll have to lose every time."

My brothers went to the boys' school in our village. Though there was a school for girls, I did not go there. I had begged to go, promising I would get up early and stay up late to do my work, but Maa said school was a waste for girls. "It will be of no use to you after you are married. The money for books and school fees is better put towards your dowry, so that we may find you a suitable husband."

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age group: 9-12 years


Want to win this book?
Send us all six of this week's Kids into Books coupons from the print edition of the New Zealand Herald and you'll go into the draw.